New Delhi: Three organisations of Hindu religious leaders – called Akhadas – have issued show cause notices to over a hundred ‘godmen’ under them for identifying as gods, Deccan Chronicle reported.
One of the sects of which godmen have been showcaused is the original litigant in the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi title case – the Nirmohi Akhada. There are 13 Akhadas in total. Nirmohi is understood to be one of the most influential.
In 2020, the Nirmohi Akhada national spokesperson Mahant Sitaram Das had said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should not lay the foundation stone of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya on August 5, 2020, as he is a “raja” (head) and not a “dharmacharya” (religious person).
The Akhada also claimed that the Ayodhya temple consecration ceremony on January 22 was not following the ‘Ramanandi’ traditions.
Ravindra Puri Maharaj, the head of the umbrella Akhil Bharatiya Akhada Parishad, recently said at Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, that seers could not be allowed to be identifying as gods such as Ram, Vishnu and Brahma.
The DC report said Ravindra described such claims by seers as “anti-Sanatan” and said that it will keep ‘godmen’ off the 2028 Mahakumbh at Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh.
Ravindra said that three of the 13 akhadas – Juna, Sri Niranjani and Nirmohi – have issued showcase notices to 112 seers for making such utterances.
The report quoted Ravindra as having said that if they do not reply to the notices by September 30, they will be barred from the Prayagraj Mahakumbh.
The news comes after a stampede occurred at Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras, during and immediately after an event held by self-styled godman Narayan Sakaar Hari alias Bhole Baba. Devotees believed in magical abilities of Hari, it has been reported.